What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas Maybe
by LoraLee2
Summary: Reid stays in Vegas after a case to visit his mother and Morgan invites himself, JJ and Emily along for the ride. Pairing ReidJJ, het smut
1. Request

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers, I do not own any CM characters, I'm just borrowing them and will return them in the same condition as I found them.

Storyline Rules: There will be het smut, there may be violence, mention of drugs and sex crimes -- this is Criminal Minds. There may be mild sideline slash, but it will not involve any CM characters. All CM characters will remain true to character as I see them. All pairings will be introduced as they could naturally occur. This may be fantasy, but I will try my best to make sure anything presented as fact is accurate.

THE REQUEST

Reid watched as the unsub was led from the interrogation room. Gideon had gotten a full confession from him and he wouldn't see the light of day for a long time, maybe, hopefully, never. It was Friday afternoon, the case was over and it was time for the team to head home, but they were in Nevada, only a half hour's drive from Vegas and it had been on his mind since they'd arrived.

He walked over to Gideon as he left the interrogation room, "It's Friday," he started. Gideon looked at him oddly, not the way Reid usually started a conversation. "I was wondering if you'd mind if I stayed behind for the weekend? I'll get you my reports before you leave, but I'd kind of like to head over to Vegas."

Morgan walked up behind Reid, overhearing, joked, "planning to hit the casinos, Reid?'

"Actually, I am, Morgan. I was planning to hit Atlantic City next month, but I'd like to see Mom, too, it's been a while."

"Let me talk to Hotch, but I don't see why not."

"So, where're we staying, Reid?"

"Huh?"

"Hey, you don't think you're spending the weekend in Vegas without me, do you?"

Gideon just laughed, "if you're both staying, you should invite JJ and Prentiss, too." He starts to walk away, "Oh, and Morgan, you started this, you're responsible for getting souvenirs for Garcia."

Reid took a moment to wonder what just happened before accepting the inevitable and starting his paperwork. He was going to need every second, after all he might be able to read faster than the rest of the team, but he didn't write or type any faster. Morgan wandered off to find the girls and issue invitations.


	2. Confessions and Decisions

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers, I do not own any CM characters, I'm just borrowing them and will return them in the same condition as I found them.

Storyline Rules: There will be het smut, there may be violence, mention of drugs and sex crimes -- this is Criminal Minds. There may be mild sideline slash, but it will not involve any CM characters. All CM characters will remain true to character as I see them. All pairings will be introduced as they could naturally occur. This may be fantasy, but I will try my best to make sure anything presented as fact is accurate.

CONFESSIONS AND DECISIONS

Reid gave directions as Morgan drove. JJ and Emily sit in the back talking excitedly. They had rented a nice sedan, and were almost to the hotel.

"So, what kind of rooms did you get us?"

"Pretty good rooms actually, connecting doubles, minibar, safes to put our weapons in, high floor near the elevator."

Emily asked, "High floor? Isn't that going to be more expensive?"

Reid rubbed the back of his neck, "Not really, the concierge thinks I'm a high roller. The hotel comps half the room rate."

Morgan laughs, "You? A high roller? How'd you get them to think that?"

"It's just a little misunderstanding from the first time I stayed there. I asked for a room with a safe so I could lock my gun up. To them safe means rich, rich means high roller, high rollers get perks. As long as they see you dropping cash, they keep providing the perks."

"You drop cash? I'd like to see that."

"Morgan, I go to Vegas to make money. That's it, this isn't a vacation, this is how I pay for Mom's hospital. Sunday morning I'll be checking out with thirty thousand after taxes and dropping it off at Bennington. Full-time long-term care doesn't come cheap, and if I have to toss around some big tips, and pretend I'm rich, that's what I'll do."

"Okay. Fair enough. But thirty grand still doesn't sound like enough to be a high roller, I mean this is Vegas, millionaires play here." Reid doesn't respond. "Come on, Buddy, spill. There's something else isn't there? You know I'll find out."

"Don't worry about it."

From the back, "Now, I'm curious, what is it Spence?"

"It's nothing JJ. Don't worry about it."

"Come on, spill, man. I'm a profiler, I'll figure it out."

"Fine, the concierge thinks I'm cute. I flirt."

"You don't even know how to flirt." Morgan looks at him, sees the increasing blush, "You're serious. You flirt to get a better room rate?"

"Hey, I save a hundred and fifty bucks a night. Besides, look whose talking, you flirt all the time. When's the last time you paid for your coffee at Starbucks?"

From Emily, "He's got you there. I don't think I've ever seen you pay for coffee."

"Okay, okay, you win. So, is she cute, what's her name?" No response. "Reid, what's her name?" Looks over, "Can you get any redder? What is it? Is she a dog or something? Oh, she's a dog. Come on, what's her name?"

"Reid, you might as well tell him, we'll meet her in ten minutes anyway."

"Yeah, come on, Spence, we're gonna find out one way or another. You like her, too, is that the problem?"

"No. No, I do not like -- no, that's not the problem."

"Then what is it? Reid, Man, if you turn any redder your head's gonna explode, just spill it. What is this lady's name?"

"Jose. Okay, Jose," he was practically shouting, "are you happy? His name is Jose. He's gay. I'm not. And I don't want to hear about it."

This was met by stunned silence, followed by hysterical laughter from three of the car's four occupants.

&&&&&&

Morgan and Reid's hotel room:

Morgan is changing in the main room, while Reid is in the bathroom, the door is mostly closed, but not all the way, allowing them to talk while changing. Neither being comfortable with the thought of seeing the other naked, Reid out of shyness, Morgan because of his history of abuse. Morgan is wearing tight black jeans and buttoning a royal blue dress shirt, Reid has gray slacks, with his gray sweater vest and a light blue shirt.

"Reid, I am impressed, you worked that boy like a pro. Where'd you learn that?"

"Watching you at Starbucks, where else?"

"So, if you can flirt like that, why are you still a virgin?"

Reid came out adjusting his tie, "You know, Morgan, you always say that, what makes you so sure?"

"Because, Dear Dr. Reid, one, you have never denied it; two, you blush any time you even look at a girl; three, the only date you've ever gone on was with JJ, and she'd have ripped your balls off if you got fresh with her. So, you gonna tell me I'm wrong?"

"No, but you don't have to keep harping on it. Why does it bug you so much?"

"I don't know. I just don't get it, how do you get to be your age without hooking up even once? It's just not healthy."

"I don't see how having sex just for the sake of having sex is healthy. Not to mention with all the STDs out there why take the risk if it's not going to last, if it's not going to mean anything?"

"So, you don't care if you ever get laid?"

"No, I care. In fact, I think I care too much." He looked at the door connecting the two hotel rooms, "I just wish it was mutual."

"You know she doesn't see you like that."

"I know. But I can't help it. I've wanted her from the moment I first laid eyes on her."

"It's been five years, Man, you gotta move on."

"I will. But what's the rush?"

"There's more isn't there?"

"You know what the first thought that ran through my head when Hankle pointed that gun at my head was?"

"I'm gonna die?" Morgan responded cautiously. Reid never talked about Hankle.

"Close. I'm gonna die and I never got to kiss JJ."

"Wow."

"Yeah, but she's not interested, she doesn't know how I feel and never will, and I'm going to move on, just not yet."

"You know, Reid, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, maybe you should give it a try. After all, if you can flirt with Jose, you should be able to flirt with JJ."

"And if she looks at me like I've grown two heads?"

"You laugh it off and make like you're just playing high roller. No harm, no foul. This might be the best chance you're ever gonna get."

"I --" Reid never did decide what to say to that, because he was interrupted by a knock on the connecting door. It opened a crack and he heard Emily's voice, "you guys decent?"

Morgan relied, "Yeah, come on in."

The door opened, and Emily and JJ walked in. They were wearing jeans and fancy blouses, JJ in green, Emily in blue. Fortunately their ready bags had to have a variety of clothing packed to cover almost any situation.

Morgan whistles at the ladies, "Foxy mamas, you ready for dinner? Mr. High Roller here's buying. He's gotta keep up his image." He winked at Reid, and hooked Emily's hand in the crook of his arm, leading her towards the door.

Reid picked up the silent message and held his hand out to JJ, bowed slightly and pulled out his best old English "Will you do me the honor of joining me for dinner, my fair lady?" Morgan was right, he might not be suave or debonair, he might not be built like a Greek god, but he had the perfect excuse to be charming, flirtatious and even openly affectionate towards JJ, by the end of the night she was either going to see him as a man or he was going to know it truly was time to move on.


	3. Declarations

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers, I do not own any CM characters, I'm just borrowing them and will return them in the same condition as I found them.

Storyline Rules: There will be het smut, there may be violence, mention of drugs and sex crimes -- this is Criminal Minds. There may be mild sideline slash, but it will not involve any CM characters. All CM characters will remain true to character as I see them. All pairings will be introduced as they could naturally occur. This may be fantasy, but I will try my best to make sure anything presented as fact is accurate.

DECLARATIONS

"I can't believe you spent that much on dinner, Spence."

"Don't worry about it, JJ," he took her hand from where it rested on the table and kissed her fingers, "Monday, it's back to McDonald's, for now let's just have fun."

Morgan and Emily laughed. Morgan grabbed Emily's hand and saying, "Let's dance." Morgan pulled Emily into his arms as they stepped onto the dance floor.

"You are trying to set those two up."

"Yes, I am. Now, dance, so they can have a little time to themselves."

"Does Reid know?"

"Sure does. Think JJ'll go for it?"

&&&&&&

Reid looked down, he was still holding JJ's hand, normally he would have pulled back and apologized profusely, probably knocked something off the table, but not tonight, the pretense Morgan had set for him, the escape clause, gave him the confidence to do what he never thought he could. He stood up, looked at JJ and asked her to dance.

"You seem different tonight."

"I do?"

"Yeah, I don't know, more relaxed, more confident."

He smiled, "I haven't knocked anything over?"

She laughed, "That could be it." She put her head on his shoulder as they swayed to the music. "So, when do we hit the poker table?"

"You're not going to go hang out with Morgan and Emily?"

"No, I think I wanna watch you break the bank. It should be interesting to watch a pro at work."

"You sound like I do this for a living."

She looked at him, "You could couldn't you? You could live like this all the time, Easy Street, fancy hotels, steak dinners, fine wine, willing women; so why do you risk your life day in and day out for people you don't know, people you never would have met, you stare horror in the face every day?"

"What you're really asking is why didn't I quit after Hankle. I almost did. I tried to walk away, but this is in my blood now." He pulled her closer, took comfort from her softness, "Knowing what I know, having faced the monsters, seen the victims, been the victim, I can't walk away, I can't let them go unchallenged, I can't pretend I don't know what's happening out there, every day, every night, I have the power to stop them, not all of them," he made a soft noise, almost a chuckle, "hell, not even most of them, but I can make a dent. I can save the one. Sometimes that's enough. Sometimes that's all there is."

He allowed himself to lean his cheek against her hair, "You know the pictures in Gideon's office." He felt her nod. "Those are all people he's saved, not all of them, but the ones that struck home. He keeps one picture in his wallet, the first kid he saved. She sends the BAU a letter every year, he's kept every one of them, he let me read them. After that I started a photo album. A hundred pages. There's not that many photos in there yet, but when I think about quitting, I look at that, I look at the people that are alive because of me, because of what I do, and it makes me feel better. Then I look at the other pages, the blank pages. If I quit, I'd be letting those people down, the ones that don't need me yet, but will someday. I'm a lifer. It may be a long life, it may be short, but it's going to mean something." He laughed, "It's definitely going to mean more than calculating the odds of whether the next card is the ace or the two."

Feeling his laughter against her chest JJ suddenly realized just how closely she was snuggled into Reid's chest. Reid. Friend; coworker; genius; klutz; and if Morgan was right, virgin. Not the kind of guy she could just fool around with tonight and then see in the office tomorrow like nothing had happened. Not the kind of guy who could really be interested in her, sure she was pretty, it was in her job description, she was smart enough, the FBI didn't take dummies, but he was a genius, he read Dostoyevsky, 15th Century English literature, what would they ever talk about? She picked up her head and slapped his chest playfully, "Let's go hit those tables. You're going to teach me how to gamble."

Reid silently cursed himself, why couldn't he shut his mouth off, for someone who was supposed to be a genius, he sure could be stupid sometimes. He'd scared her off, maybe sometime in the next thirty or forty years he could learn when to shut up. "Sure, let's start with the blackjack table."

&&&&&&

They started with the blackjack table; JJ was amused when Spence rolled up his sleeves as he approached the table. "I thought gamblers only did that in the movies."

"Depends on the stakes. The nickel tables, nobody cares, dime tables it's a good idea, but once you get past the quarter tables, you don't take any chances."

"Wait, nickels and dimes? I thought you were going for big money."

Reid laughed, "JJ, you can be so innocent sometimes. Five, ten and twenty-five dollar bets. We're going to start at the quarter table, ease you into it."

"Where do you usually start?"

"Fifty."

"Well, let's go. I don't wanna slow you down."

"You're sure? I don't want you betting more than you can afford to lose. People lose their shirts here."

"I have cash, when that runs out I'm done. I promise."

"Okay, as long as you can pay the rent when we get home."

"Don't worry about it, I'm a big girl."

He smiled, "Sure you don't want me to hold your credit cards while we're here?"

&&&&&&

He picked a table with two empty seats, an hour later he was up a thousand and JJ had gone bust. He'd offered to spot her, but she wouldn't take his money. She was also well on her way to getting a good buzz, she didn't have nearly as much problem putting a few drinks on his tab, it was a start. He sighed, this had been a lot more fun when she had been sitting by his side, now she that she wasn't playing it wasn't nearly as much fun, but he could feel her eyes on him, and that was a secret thrill he had never expected to feel. He decided he had enough seed money and it was time to get serious, poker. He collected his winnings and grabbed JJ's hand, dragging her off just as he saw the waitress approaching again to offer more alcohol.

As they approached the poker area he paused, this couldn't be much fun for her, standing around watching him play cards, maybe he should call Morgan, he and Emily could come get JJ and take her to a show or something. It was only nine o'clock, he usually played until one or two in the morning, sometimes three, it was going to be a really long night for her if she stuck with him. Not to mention if she kept downing 7 & Sevens the way she was, she was going to be falling down drunk by ten. The man in him wanted to take her to bed, not pour her into it. Sure, right now he could probably take her to his room and have his way with her, but he'd never be able to look at himself in the morning, and she would hate him forever. He asked her about calling Morgan and Emily, she told him she'd rather stay and watch him. He introduced himself to the table and settled in to make some serious money.

By midnight, he had driven three men bust and was up ten thousand, JJ was leaning against his side, she'd definitely had more to drink than she should have, but at least she was a sweet drunk, she was getting downright cuddly, she had one hand on his thigh and the other was rubbing his back in a very distracting way. He was torn between asking her to stop so he could concentrate on poker and begging her to continue in private when he saw the waitress approaching their table again.

Play stopped for a few moments while she took drink orders, when she got to him he ordered two diet Cokes. JJ looked at him and said, "Spence, I'm drinking Sevens." He looked into her eyes, much too aware of the others sitting at the table watching him, waiting for his reaction. He was the center of attention and for once in his life he didn't give a damn, he was going to make an ass of himself, and only one person's reaction mattered.

He turned JJ's face to him, said her name to make sure he had her full attention, she looked at him, blinked, not quite as aware as he would have liked but it would have to do. He tangled his fingers in her hair and pulled her to him, took her mouth with his and kissed her for all he was worth. When he stopped she looked dazed, he smiled, guess he did it right. "JJ, I want you to have a soda."

"Huh?"

"I want you to have a soda, because you have a choice to make tonight"

"I do?"

"You do. I want to take you upstairs and make love to you until neither of us can stand up. Then I want to do it again. I want to know what you like, what makes you sigh, what makes you moan, what makes you scream. I want to hear you call my name out, over and over again. I want to touch every inch of your body, kiss every inch of your body, and I want you to touch me back."

He heard her breath speed up, that was good, felt her pulse race beneath his hand on her neck, that was better. "But the thing is, JJ, I don't want excuses in the morning, I don't want regrets. I don't want either of us waking up saying 'what did I do?' I want you stone cold sober when I make love to you. So, you have a decision to make, tonight, right now, is that what you want?"

He carressed her cheek, "I want you forever, but I'm greedy, I'll take tonight, what happens tomorrow is going to happen. It's your choice, if you say yes tonight and you want what happens in Vegas to stay in Vegas, then that's it, I'll never mention it again. If you want to stay up all night and talk I'm good with that, too, as long as you give me a chance. And if you want me to go to hell, then I swear I will never even look at you that way again."

He touched his lips to hers, "But I'm done waiting, JJ. I'm done wondering, watching, wishing. I'm laying my cards on the table tonight. If you want another drink, go ahead, and then you can have another, and I will take you upstairs make sure you get to bed safely, and then I'll turn around and walk out of the room. But if you want to give us a chance, then take the Coke, sit here with me until you're sober again, then come up to my room with me and let me take you to heaven."

"Why do you want me?"

"You think I'm going to say because you're beautiful; don't you?"

She looked down, but he wasn't letting her escape that easily. He lifted her face back to his, "You are. You know it, I know it, but that's not why I want you. I want you because you're fun to be with, you're funny, smart -- yes, smart. You are no dumb blond no matter how well you play the part. Do you think I don't see through that?"

He smiled at the amazed look on her face, "Every day I watch you corral reporters and cops, and make them do exactly what you want them to, and they never even realize they're being played. You stand up to Hotch, and you even win. You're strong, you're brave. You can't carry a tune in a bucket, but at Christmas you don't care, you sing Christmas carols like an angel. You read dime store romances when you think no one's looking. You have the biggest heart I've ever seen." He kissed her again, softly, gently, slowly, "Should I go on, or are you ready to order your drink yet?"

JJ looked into his beautiful hazel eyes, eyes that were clear, unclouded, unwavering and said, "Miss, I'd like a diet Coke, please."

&&&&&&


	4. Actions

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers, I do not own any CM characters, I'm just borrowing them and will return them in the same condition as I found them.

Storyline Rules: There will be het smut, there may be violence, mention of drugs and sex crimes -- this is Criminal Minds. There may be mild sideline slash, but it will not involve any CM characters. All CM characters will remain true to character as I see them. All pairings will be introduced as they could naturally occur. This may be fantasy, but I will try my best to make sure anything presented as fact is accurate.

ACTIONS

It was two a.m., and he was up, in more ways than one. Apparently his not-so-private conversation with JJ had proven a distraction for the other men at his table. He had won the next several hands without any effort at all, it was two a.m. and he had almost forty thousand dollars sitting in front of him, and JJ sitting beside him. He'd had to call on all his FBI training and experience to keep his mind on the game, his other advantage was that being frustrated around JJ was nothing new for him, he'd spent the last five years thinking about making love to her, and even though she had as much as promised to spend the night with him she was drunk when she'd made the decision, so it was no more a sure thing than it had been when he first started to play. In fact, he was terrified she would change her mind as she sobered up, but she was still sitting with him, she was still sipping Diet Coke, and she still had one hand on his thigh and the other on his back, one higher, the other lower. He leaned over to kiss her as he placed his cards on the table, Royal flush, the pot was his. JJ's hand moved even higher on his thigh, yeah, he was definitely up.

He came up for air, "I think we're going to call it a night." Now, now, came the moment he'd been both anticipating and dreading since the moment JJ had ordered her Coke. The transition from sitting here, thinking about making love to JJ, and getting back to his room with her. She stood up with him as he rose from his seat. and this time she raised her lips to his. Transition, cash out, take the elevator upstairs, and down the hall to his room. He hoped Morgan found someplace to sleep tonight, because it was his turn to claim the room, and he didn't want to deal with kicking Morgan out. He would, but he really hoped he wouldn't have to, JJ might balk if she had to face Morgan before.

&&&&&&

JJ looked into Reid's eyes, as they entered the elevator, she'd never seen him look so intense before. She was worried, of course she was worried, she was about to make love to Reid. She was still hot from what he had said earlier. But she was still worried. She'd heard big talk before, followed by quick fumblings, and morning recriminations. This was Reid, he barely looked at women, when he did he blushed like a teenager, there was no way he'd done this before. She thought back to prom night, thirty seconds and it was over, they'd both been more embarrassed than anything. She didn't know what she'd do if that happened with Reid. Then he kissed her again and all rational thought fled from her mind. Where the hell had he learned to kiss like that? Maybe he wasn't a virgin, maybe this was going to be better than she thought. Maybe -- "JJ?"

"Yeah?"  
"Before" he cleared his throat, "before we get to the room, I figured I'd better ask," he cleared his throat again, "do I -- do you -- do we need condoms? I -- I have them, I have them, but maid service unpacked our bags, I'm not sure where they put them. They're probably right in the nightstand drawer, but I need to find them before -- before we take this too far. I -- I don't want to risk you --"

"Shut up."

"Okay."

"You passed your last health check?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Tobias, the needles. Yeah, everything came back good. No HIV, no hepatitis, they checked for everything. I'm clean." He gulped air, "But I don't want you getting --"

"It's okay. I get the shots, no babies. And no diseases. We're good."

"Good." He took her mouth again, only to be interrupted by the doors opening. They stumbled out of the elevator, not wanting to break contact, not being able to walk straight while kissing, Reid broke contact long enough to fumble his key card out of his wallet and swipe the lock. He opened the door and they fell inside. He quickly looked to make sure Morgan wasn't in the room, and breathed a sigh of relief at finding the room empty.

For the first time in his life he pulled the do not disturb sign from the inside handle and stuck on the outside door handle and closed the door. Morgan was out of luck if he didn't find another place to sleep, not that Reid had any sympathy, he'd spent more than one night curled up like a pretzel in an SUV while his partner spent the night with some woman. Of course he didn't see the sign swing and fall to the floor.

He backed JJ across the room until he felt them bump into the bed. He stopped and pulled his lips from hers and ripped his sweater over his head. He felt himself losing control, fought with himself, 'You're not sixteen, you can do this without acting like an animal.' 'This is JJ, you have to be gentle.' His body warred with his mind, his body didn't care about gentle, his body didn't care about pride, his body wanted and wanted now.

He felt JJ undoing the buttons of his shirt as he fumbled with hers. He felt fabric rip but was beyond caring. He wanted. He needed. He was mostly unaware of shedding the rest of their clothes, he just knew they were naked, and JJ was clutching at him as much as he was pawing at her. He laid her down on the bed trying to be gentle, knowing he wasn't succeeding as well as he should. His body knew what he needed but his mind knew what she needed. He ripped his mouth from hers and kissed his way down her neck to her breasts, he closed his eyes as he pressed his lips to first one nipple then the other, he suckled, felt her harden in his mouth, heard her moan, cry out his name.

In the back of his mind, that part that wasn't all animal yet, he felt pride, he was pleasing his woman. He caressed his way down her body, hoping she was ready for him, praying he wasn't going to have to wait much longer, knowing he wasn't going to be able to make it at all if it wasn't soon. He brushed his hand over her hip, brushed the inside of her thigh, sweet Lord, she felt wonderful, so soft, so warm, he raised his hand, found her curls, and began to probe gently with his fingers, please let him find what he was looking for, Glory, yes, he did, she was wet, ready, and she cried out his name again as he pressed the small nubbin of flesh he found, he left her breast to claim her mouth again as he positioned himself over her.

He looked into her eyes as he entered her, quickly, unable to hold back a moment longer. He thrust once, twice, a third time and it was over. He collapsed upon her, panting, mindless, ashamed to have come so quickly, unable to regret a moment of it. He felt his senses begin to return and realized he was still hard. She was so soft and warm around him, so hot and tight, he wanted to die, he felt alive like never before, he began to move again.

He saw the surprise in her eyes, she had felt him arrive, she too had thought it was over, she smiled at him, a truly wicked smile if he had ever seen one, and began to stroke his back, she rubbed her legs against his as he drove into her repeatedly, she whispered love words in his ear, she cried his name again as she tightened around him as she came, driving him over the edge once more.

This time as he collapsed again, he felt satisfied, he had done well, he knew he wouldn't have to ask the question he had dreaded, 'How did I do?' A confident man doesn't have to ask, he knows when he's done a good job.

He rolled to the side not wanting to squash JJ, he wasn't a large man, but he was still a lot bigger than JJ. He lay on his side, smiling at JJ, stroking her side, he found his hand straying to her breasts time and time again. He looked at the clock it was three a.m., they really needed to get some sleep, but he couldn't bear the thought of closing his eyes, of not seeing her. JJ looked up at him, saw him looking at the clock, she smiled and murmured, "And I was afraid you'd be a minute man." She rolled into his chest and snuggled up to him.

Later, much later, they crawled under the covers to sleep.


	5. Exposure

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers, I do not own any CM characters, I'm just borrowing them and will return them in the same condition as I found them.

Storyline Rules: There will be het smut, there may be violence, mention of drugs and sex crimes -- this is Criminal Minds. There may be mild sideline slash, but it will not involve any CM characters. All CM characters will remain true to character as I see them. All pairings will be introduced as they could naturally occur. This may be fantasy, but I will try my best to make sure anything presented as fact is accurate.

EXPOSURE

Morgan looked at his watch as the elevator doors closed. He was still buzzed a bit from the beer and sex. A little aggravated at being kicked out of a nice warm bed at five in the morning, but he really couldn't blame her. After all he'd seen in this job he knew that actually sleeping, as in closing your eyes and falling asleep, really wasn't safe, but man, the walk of shame sure sucked. Right now all he wanted was a nice warm bed till lunchtime and then maybe he'd razz Reid a bit about how his evening with JJ had gone.

They'd seemed pretty cozy the last time he'd looked in on them. JJ had practically been sitting in his lap while he played poker; maybe they'd hooked up after all. Then it hit him, if Reid had brought JJ back to their room, then he didn't have a bed. Oh, this really sucked. Maybe they'd gone to JJ's room instead.

He chuckled at the thought of Prentiss having to find someplace to sleep. Not nice, but right now better her than him. Besides last time he'd seen her, she was getting pretty cozy herself with some dark-haired dude. He'd started to go over to introduce himself, but she'd waved him off. That should give him enough fuel to keep her on edge for a good week and a half. Sure, what happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas, but that didn't mean he couldn't threaten to spill the beans all over, not that he would, but he lived to tease.

The elevator doors slid open and he looked at the doorknobs of the two rooms. He breathed a sigh of relief, the do-not-disturb sign was on JJ's door, not his. Ha, looked like it was Prentiss who was S.O.L. on the sleeping arrangements tonight. He slid his key card into the lock and opened the door. No need to turn on the light, he and Reid had been bunking together for five years, Reid always took the bed on the right, he took the bed on the left. The arrangement ensured there wouldn't ever be any mistakes after a midnight bathroom run. The last thing either of them wanted was to wake up to the other crawling into the wrong bed at three in the morning.

Morgan didn't even notice as he stepped over the ripped do-not-disturb sign on the floor. He crossed the room in the dark, felt under the pillow for the sweatpants he slept in, changed and slipped under the covers.

&&&&&&

Emily woke slowly, what was that noise? Again, louder, what --? There it was again, she started to sit, up felt a heavy weight across her stomach, oh, yeah, Vegas, Reid and JJ. Again. She and Boris had come up here at eleven, she'd been sound asleep when JJ and Reid had started round one. Not that she'd thought about it, but she wouldn't have pictured JJ as a screamer. During the day she was always so calm, controlled, she dealt with reporters and cops all day and never raised her voice. Apparently nighttime was a different story altogether. Emily looked at the clock, six a.m. maybe they'd be quick about it this time and she could get some more shut-eye before breakfast. She wasn't counting on it, though, not after the first two performances she'd been treated to.

&&&&&&

Morgan woke to the sounds of lovemaking. His first thought was "Way to go, Reid." He lay still as he listened to the sounds coming from the other side of the wall, JJ was a moaner. He smiled. He didn't know whether it would last or not, but at least his boy would have the chance to find out. Then he heard Reid's voice, a mere whisper, a whisper he wouldn't be able to hear through a wall. His eyes sprung open, the room was pitch black, he couldn't see a thing. Could he possibly sneak out of the room without them knowing he was there? No way, even if they didn't hear him, they'd see the light from the hallway when he opened the door. Besides he'd never find all his clothes, without them hearing him. Oh, man, this was just wrong. He was trapped. Under any other circumstances he'd think this was hilarious, but Reid was gonna kill him. Why the hell hadn't they put up the sign?

"Spence, what are you doing?" Reid could hear the smile in her voice. Good. He continued kissing his way down her body; he stopped to linger at her breast. He kissed and fondled, he loved JJ's breasts, but he only lingered a short time, he was after a different target this morning. He paused briefly to lick her belly button, he heard her gasp, ooh, she liked that did she? He tucked the knowledge away for later, hopefully he'd have forever to learn what she liked, but belly buttons were for later. He kissed his way lower, kissing, licking, he risked a graze of his teeth against her lower belly, was rewarded with another soft gasp.

He smiled as he gently nudged he legs apart, she resisted for a moment, shy, hesitant. He nipped her hip with his teeth, felt her tense, then relax, he stroked her hip with his hand, nudged her leg again, felt her begin to melt. Slowly he moved between her legs, kissing gently as he searched. He inhaled, not knowing what to expect, he felt himself begin to harden. He touched his mouth to her, gently tasted. He heard JJ call his name again. He licked, nuzzled, tasted, he heard JJ gasp again, she moaned, he enjoyed every moment, continuing until she cried his name out, once, twice, three times.

And he continued, he waited until he knew she was close again, he was aching; he was going to die if he didn't take her soon. Yes, take. That was exactly what he wanted to do. He wanted to demand satisfaction, his and hers. JJ was his this morning, maybe only this morning; he needed to stake his claim, here, now. He shifted position, he raised himself to his hands and knees, JJ was oblivious to his movements, her entire consciousness centered around the core of her being, her pleasure. He closed his eyes for a moment before moving again.

He brought her to the edge a fourth time, waited, heard the gasp that meant she was ready, one more lick and she'd come again. He knew he wouldn't last, but he also knew it wouldn't matter. She was ready for him, so ready. He licked, felt her start to come and surged upwards, he slid into her body felt her orgasm multiply. God, she was so tight. She screamed his name, coming as he thrust again; he ground his hips, driving her deeper into the abyss. He thrust again, and followed her over the edge. Never had anything felt so good.

He continued thrusting, hoping his erection would last again, but it wasn't to be this time. He lowered his body over hers, not putting his weight on her, but feeling the contact, the closeness. He kissed her face, felt dampness; he covered her face with kisses. He felt concern, did women cry when they --? He hadn't hurt her, had he? He'd rather die than hurt JJ. He continued to graze her face with his lips, offering comfort where he hoped none was needed.

"That" she panted, "was amazing." He smiled down at her as her words penetrated his brain. All he could bring himself to say in return was "Yeah." Hardly his most eloquent, but apparently it was enough since she giggled beneath him.

He rolled over pulling her with him and surprised her by settling her over him. After a moment she laid her head on his chest and allowed her legs to drape to either side of him. He sighed, he was in heaven. Making love with JJ was better than he'd ever dreamed, but this, cuddling, touching, stroking her back while she laid on him, this made him think that there was a chance. She wasn't pulling away, she wasn't getting up to go to her own room, she wasn't trying to distance herself from him. There was a chance that Monday morning she would still be his. There was a chance this could last. He sighed again; this was quite definitely the best moment of his entire life, pure heaven. He pulled the sheet over them and closed his eyes, thinking there could be nothing better than falling asleep with JJ wrapped around him.

JJ felt Spencer beginning to fall asleep beneath her, she didn't want to break the mood, but she needed to ask and it was easier in the dark where she could hide, "Spence?"

"Hmm?"

"Where'd you learn to do that?"

His chest shook under hers and she heard the response she'd heard him give so many times in so many situations, "I read a lot."

"Seriously, Spence, I need to know." She took a deep breath, "Was it Lila?"

"Lila? No, nothing happened with Lila."

"Elle told me she and Morgan saw you, you were kissing her."

"_Kissing_, JJ, that's all, just kissing."

"Then how --?"

"JJ, are you jealous?" He was amazed, could she be?

"No. Maybe. I don't know."

"You don't need to be. That's it; I've kissed Lila, and last night. That's my entire sexual history." He leaned his head up, kissed her forehead, stroked his hand down her back, "But I'm kind of hoping you'll make more with me."

"I think that can be arranged." She snuggled into his chest. "So, you read a lot, huh; _what_ have you been reading?"

"You're going to make me confess, aren't you?"

JJ stilled, this was it, he had a 'confession,' she hoped she could live with it. She nodded her head against his chest.

"Okay. But you have to promise not to tell Morgan."

Across the room Morgan waited, 'this is going to be good,' he was still hoping the lovebirds would fall asleep before the sun came up.

Reid waited, "I'm serious, he'll never let me forget it if he finds out."

"I promise."

"You remember last year when you kept losing those trashy novels you're always reading?"

"They're not trashy."

"JJ, they're trashy. But that's not the point."

"Okay, go on."

"You'd lose them, then they'd turn up in your office, or the break room."

"Yeah, I found one in the fridge, I thought I was losing my mind."

"You weren't misplacing them. I was, um, _borrowing_ them."

"You've been reading my romance novels? Why?"

"Well, I figured if I wanted to know what a woman's fantasies are, what better way than to read romantic fantasy written by women for women?"

"Women generic?"

"No, woman specific. You keep reading them, you must like them. I wanted to know what turned you on. I've dreamed about this night so many times. I never thought it would happen, but I wanted it to be perfect if it did. I wanted to make you want to come back for more."

"You know something, Spence?"

"What?"

"You're a damn good researcher."

He laughed and rolled over so she was beneath him again. She gave a little scream of surprise, "You think so?" He kissed her, "I could show you more of my research results."

"Again? You can't be ready again?"

"I wish. But just because I can't, doesn't mean you can't." He kissed the side of her facing, turning her head so he could bite her neck. The sun was starting to come thought the curtains and he could see her outline now. He began to nibble her shoulder, gave passing consideration to giving her a love bite, but decided against it, no matter how much he wanted to stamp his mark on her, hickeys were juvenile, they were adults. He was an adult. He closed his lips over her shoulder where it would never be seen.

JJ slapped the back of his shoulder, "Don't even think about it, Buster."

He lifted his head, smiling, "Just a little one?"

"Yeah, right. The last time I heard that was in tenth grade and I had to wear turtlenecks for the next two weeks."

"Come on, your shoulder, no turtlenecks."

"No way." She laughed, clearly not displeased by his persistence. He decided to change tactics, he lowered his head again, this time aiming for her earlobe, he nipped at her earring as she turned her head to allow him access expecting one of those small gasps he was coming to love, instead he heard a bloodcurdling scream as JJ spotted Morgan lying on the bed across the room.

Reid jumped from the bed to confront his partner as JJ scrambled for the covers. "What the hell are you doing?"

&&&&&&

In the next room Emily heard JJ's scream followed by Reid shouting, and her FBI instincts kicked into action. She raced for the room safe and pulled out her gun. As she pulled her side of the connecting door open, she hoped that the other side was unlocked as well, she could break down a door, but if she didn't get it the fist time, she'd lose the element of surprise. She had no idea what was happening on the other side of the door, but that last scream had not been an orgasm.

She twisted the knob and burst through the door, shouting, "FBI, freeze." She vaguely saw a shape standing in the center of the room, she saw shadowed arms shoot up to shoulder height, and heard three shouts of "don't shoot." She aimed at the figure in the center of the room and reached for the light switch next to the door. She flipped the switch and gasped in shock to see Reid standing naked in the middle of the room, hands next to his head, while JJ cringed under the covers on one bed and Morgan burst out laughing on the other. She stared at Reid, saw him blush, all over, completely all over. She tried to speak, tried again, finally spit out, "What the hell is going on?"

She spun around as she sensed someone coming up behind her. It was Boris, also stark naked, he looked at her and said in broken English, puzzled, "Why you have gun? Do we party in here now?"

"Party?!"

"He is naked, she is naked, I am naked, you have sexy nightgown, black man is very happy. This is American orgy party, yes?"

Morgan laughed so hard he fell off the bed.

"Nyet, nyet."

"This is not American orgy?" Good God, the man sounded so disappointed Emily almost felt sorry for him.

Reid cleared his throat, she spun back, gun raised, "Emily," his voice was pitched higher than she'd ever heard it, "can I please put my pants on?"


	6. Reparations

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers, I do not own any CM characters, I'm just borrowing them and will return them in the same condition as I found them.

Storyline Rules: There will be het smut, there may be violence, mention of drugs and sex crimes -- this is Criminal Minds. There may be mild sideline slash, but it will not involve any CM characters. All CM characters will remain true to character as I see them. All pairings will be introduced as they could naturally occur. This may be fantasy, but I will try my best to make sure anything presented as fact is accurate.

REPARATIONS

Reid put his fork down and shook his hand. Again. Who knew Morgan's jaw was so hard? He looked over at his partner who was happily digging into Belgian waffles like there was no tomorrow, although Reid was pleased to note that Morgan's jaw was almost as swollen as his hand.

By the time he had managed to get his pants on security had shown up at the door, looking for explanations for the screaming and shouting. JJ had scooped up her clothes from the floor and dragged all the blankets from the bed into the bathroom with her and Emily managed to herd the Russian guy back into her room, before answering the door. Then had been the fun part of digging up I.D. badges and explaining that no, nobody was being raped, murdered or otherwise injured in any way. Emily's gun didn't help ease first impressions any either. Security had wound up searching both rooms, fortunately Boris had decided if there was no "American orgy party" he might as well get dressed, so he was decent when they opened the connecting door.

It had taken nearly an hour to make explanations and get rid of security. Morgan's explanation for being in the room made sense, especially when security had opened the door and they'd all seen the ripped do-not-disturb sign on the floor. Finally, Emily's gun had been locked back up in the room safe, everyone was dressed and security left. Reid had waited long enough to be sure security had left the floor, walked up to Morgan and decked him. All Morgan had done was ask him if he felt better.

Not yet. Later this might all be funny, like in thirty, forty years, right now he was pissed at Morgan and he intended to stay that way.

He flexed his fingers again and picked his fork up. Morgan put his fork down and said, "Reid, let me check your hand."

"Go to hell. They're not broken, just bruised."

"If you don't let me check them, I'm gonna drag your ass to the emergency room and make you get them x-rayed."

"Fine." He held out his hand, "But I'm hitting you again as soon as they feel better."

"Yeah, I figured as much. Make it a gut shot next time." Morgan took Reid's hand and manipulated a knuckle with his thumb.

"What?"

"No broken hand for you. No visible bruising for me. I'm not looking forward to explaining this to Hotch."

"All you had to do --."

"I know. I screwed up. It wasn't deliberate, Reid." Next knuckle, Reid winced. "JJ forgives me."

JJ was playing with her cell phone across the table. She smiled at Morgan as the flash went off, "Well, eventually, Morgan. But that doesn't mean I'm above a little revenge, or insurance." She turned the phone around to show a picture of Morgan holding a male hand, leaning over it; at first glance it looked like he was about to kiss it. "You mention anything you overheard, and I mean anything, and a couple hundred copies of this get posted around the office."

"You wouldn't."

"Tit for tat. You tell, I show. Only the four of us know you were there and it stays that way. I suggest you think up a nice bar fight for Hotch." She watched as Reid smiled for the first time since sunrise.

"Heads up, guys," this from Emily, "We got incoming."

"Dr. Reid, I understand there was a disturbance in your rooms this morning, I wanted to make sure everything was handled to your satisfaction."

Reid looked over his right shoulder, Jose, the concierge, was standing behind him, looking down at Morgan _**holding his hand**_ 'shit' he thought. Morgan came to his rescue, "Just a little misunderstanding. It's all settled now." He turned on the charm, "Your security staff handled everything excellently. And we really appreciate the discretion of everyone involved. I'm sure you know how it is; law enforcement is just like the military 'don't ask, don't tell, and whatever happens don't get caught.'" Jose flushed a bit as Morgan flirted shamelessly with him, by the end of the conversation they had arranged a third room for 'JJ,' as well Jose's promise to find them four tickets to a show that night, something the ladies would like.

Once Jose left, Morgan released Reid's hand, "We cool yet, Man?"

Reid laughed and smiled back, "Better. But I wish somebody'd had a video camera."

"Oh, if JJ'd been taking video, you'd have been on your own, Bud. Now, we've all done something embarrassing, can we agree that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?"

Reid's good mood suddenly fell again, remembering that JJ hadn't said yet whether she would be willing to continue a relationship back in Virginia. He'd promised to leave the choice up to her, and he would, but it was going to kill him if she gave him the cold shoulder once they got home. Hope had been his sun for so long, he didn't know if he could survive without it.

"No, Morgan," he looked at JJ as she spoke, "Not everything that happens in Vegas stays here." She reached out and took his hand, looked into his eyes, "Some things follow you home and change everything."

"You mean it?"

"Yes."

Reid started to lean forward to kiss JJ when Morgan cleared his throat, "Jose is still around here somewhere, if I get stuck in the basement tonight because you blow all that hard work I just did, I'm gonna be mad at you." He laughed at the disgruntled looks on their faces, "Besides, you better get used to it, Hotch isn't going to let you guys neck at work."

"Killjoy," JJ felt like pouting, but maybe she could get Reid back upstairs later for a little afternoon delight.

Emily blew that idea out of the water by asking, "So, Reid, do you know all the non-tourist spots to see?"

"Sure, you'd probably like Fremont Street, but I know a few out of the way places, too. After I go see Mom, I can show you guys around."

"Great, I'm looking forward to meeting your mom."

"Um, Emily, my mom is --."

"It's okay, Reid, Morgan explained to me, but she knows who I am; right?"

"Yeah, I probably should have told you I --."

"No, you don't think we all talk about the people we work with? I don't mind. But Morgan said your mom really enjoyed meeting the team. I'd like to meet her."

"You're serious? Don't say that just to make me feel good. Mom can be," he searched for the right word' "difficult. You don't have to come, none of you."

"Spence, I liked your mom, Garcia and I had a good time with her, while you guys were out chasing Garner. She'll know who we are; right?"

"It depends, sometimes she doesn't recognize anyone, she thinks she's teaching again. I usually just sit and let her lecture me. Are you guys sure you're willing to risk a two-hour lecture on 15th Century lit?"

"Hey, Man, she can't be any worse than you explaining how they get the filling inside the Twinkies. What time do we leave?"

Reid nodded, smiled, a warm feeling spreading through his soul; nobody had ever accepted his Mom like this before. The few friends he'd had as a child had always refused to come back to his house after meeting his mother, and after a few tries he had stopped asking. "We can go as soon as Morgan finishes packing his bags." He smiled at Morgan, good mood restored, "Just make sure you leave a note asking housekeeping not to unpack for you."


	7. Visiting the Past

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers, I do not own any CM characters, I'm just borrowing them and will return them in the same condition as I found them.

Storyline Rules: There will be het smut, there may be violence, mention of drugs and sex crimes -- this is Criminal Minds. There may be mild sideline slash, but it will not involve any CM characters. All CM characters will remain true to character as I see them. All pairings will be introduced as they could naturally occur. This may be fantasy, but I will try my best to make sure anything presented, as fact is accurate.

Author's note: This chapter's a little angsty, but it insisted on being written. Funny how they do that sometimes.

VISITING THE PAST

Reid felt himself tense as Morgan pulled into the parking lot at Bennington. He didn't want to, he just couldn't help it, no matter how much he wanted to see his mother, the very thought terrified him. He really did want to see her, but he never knew who would be waiting for him when he passed through those doors: Would she be the loving mother he liked to remember from his childhood, the one who wanted nothing more than to read to him from some obscure text; would she be a viper lashing out at him for imprisoning her here; would she be the paranoid woman who was afraid of him for being part of the government, he wasn't used to that aspect yet, might never be; he almost hoped for the professor who didn't recognize him, but would kindly allow him to sit in on her lecture as long as he assured her he had done the reading.

This was it; there was no chickening out this time, no turning around at the billing office, not with his team watching him, not with JJ watching. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and thought, 'here goes.' He started when he felt JJ slip her hand into his. He paused just a moment to think about the emotion that engendered, comfort, something he'd felt so little of in his life, something he hoped he'd be able to grow used to. Last night he had kissed her hand because it fit the role of high roller, today he lifted her hand to his lips out of love, a silent thank you for the strength she'd just given him. She looked into his eyes and he knew she understood. He released her hand and slid out of the car. He walked up to the front door and waited for the others before opening it and stepping inside.

&&&&&&

He remembered the first time he had stepped through these doors, it had been a few months after his seventeenth birthday, he'd known for over a year that in order to have the life he wanted, a life of his own, he would have to find a place for his mother. He'd researched hospitals the same way he researched anything else, thoroughly, meticulously, he'd gotten her a spot in one of the best facilities in the country. But that's where his guilt came from, not because he had committed his mother for her own good, but because he had committed his mother for _**his**_ own good.

She was better off here, he knew she was, she was better cared for than he had ever been able to do. The trained staff here was able to make sure she took her medication properly. They made sure she ate three times a day. He knew that when he'd been in school she had frequently missed her noon meal. He'd left her meals every day, despite how thin he was he could and did cook, it was just chemistry, but many days he came home to find them untouched. At fourteen he had arranged his college schedule so he could come home and cook her lunch between classes.

He remembered the times when she had been unwilling to leave her bed except to use the bathroom, unwilling to shower for weeks at a time. He remembered how at fifteen he had finally done what he knew was necessary and forced her, the humiliation of washing her himself. Her screams of anger, cries of embarassment.

He remembered the desperation at thirteen of placing every sharp object in the house under lock and carrying the key on a chain around his neck after she had suddenly decided he needed a haircut at three in the morning, the terror of seeing her approach him in the dark with scissors, the cuts and bruises. He'd hated haircuts ever since, only going to the barber when someone like Hotch mentioned he was starting to get shaggy.

He remembered being sixteen, his math doctorate complete the classwork for his physics doctorate behind him, taking more classes even as he wrote his second dissertation, an associate teaching position promised to him the moment he turned eighteen. He had started working on a literature degree, he'd been assigned a paper on Jack the Ripper. He'd been fascinated, he done the paper, but that hadn't been enough. He wanted to go back in time and catch him. He'd gone to his advisor that very day and changed majors. His advisor had tried to talk him out of it; "Criminal justice, Spencer? You're size is going to hold you back. Concentrate on lab work, you can run a major crime lab." He'd argued and won. He'd convinced the advisor that he was still young, he'd fill out later, and if he couldn't make it into the FBI, then he could always teach criminal justice, maybe be a lawyer, but he'd known that would never happen. He did his research and set his sights on the FBI, on the BAU.

At nineteen he'd contacted Jason Gideon asking him to review his thesis. Gideon had agreed. A week after sending it off to Washington there'd been a knock on his dorm room door, where he had moved the week after he had committed his mother. It had been Gideon, he had immediately sensed the man's disappointment at his size, he never had filled out much, but he'd put his best effort and full determination into winning him over during the impromptu job interview. He'd succeeded.

Reid pulled himself back to the present, yes, he knew she needed the kind of care they provided here, but he'd never forgive himself for _**wanting**_ to be relieved of the responsibility. He reached out for JJ's hand, seeking her comfort and asked a nurse where they could find his mother.

&&&&&&

Diana Reid sat with a group of other patients, she was lecturing on a Scottish poet, William Dunbar, one of her favorites, a crowd-pleaser. He smiled as they approached the group, "May we join the lecture, Professor Reid?"

She squealed with delight, "Spencer," she stood up and hugged him. Started to introduced her 'knight' to her 'students.' One of the other patients rushed to pull some nearby chairs closer so the group could sit. Reid introduced JJ and Morgan who Diana actually remembered, and Emily who he'd written about and Diana claimed to feel she knew already. They stayed most of the day, eating lunch with Diana in the pleasant but noisy dining area.

It was probably the best visit -- no, it was the best visit he had had with his mother in the time she had been here. He would have to thank the guys later, every time his mother had started to drift one of them had pulled her back by asking about English lit, how he had missed that trick all this time he would never know. It amazed him in a way, he knew exactly what tone of voice to use to soothe a psychotic with two guns and a train full of hostages, but he had such a hard time talking with his own mother.

His mother had been especially taken with JJ, and managed to spill all sorts of tales about his childhood, spelling his first words with blocks at two, winning the fourth-grade spelling bee at six, coming in second in the junior high science fair at nine, having to have his cap and gown specially ordered for his high school graduation at twelve, starting the summer session of college a few weeks later.

As they were leaving Diana called him back to her. She whispered in his ear, "You're dating that nice JJ, aren't you?"

"Yes, Mom." He hadn't hidden it, but hadn't announced it either, after all it had been less than twenty-four hours, and dating was kind of stretching it, since they hadn't gone anywhere yet.

"Make sure you're careful."

"Careful?"

"Yes, you know what I mean. You don't want any accidents."

Confused, "Accidents?" Mom, what are you --?"

"Make sure you use birth control, you don't want her getting pregnant before you get married, you know."

Reid laughed, "Yes, Mom, I promise to be careful." He kissed her on the cheek and walked away with a smile on his face.


	8. Lessons

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers, I do not own any CM characters, I'm just borrowing them and will return them in the same condition as I found them.

Storyline Rules: There will be het smut, there may be violence, mention of drugs and sex crimes -- this is Criminal Minds. There may be mild sideline slash, but it will not involve any CM characters. All CM characters will remain true to character as I see them. All pairings will be introduced as they could naturally occur. This may be fantasy, but I will try my best to make sure anything presented as fact is accurate.

LESSONS

They went back to the hotel long enough to check out "JJ's" new room, change clothes and pick up the tickets Jose had managed to find. Reid was very pleased to find they were tickets to David Copperfield, he was definitely going to have to spend a little more time at the tables to pay for them, but it was worth it to see JJ's eyes light up, Emily seemed suitably impressed as well.

Morgan just shook his head saying "A magic show?" Morgan had never shown any interest in his magic tricks, but Reid was sure he'd enjoy the show once they got there, nobody could remain unimpressed by David Copperfield. The two-hour show didn't start until nine, so they got recommendations from Jose for a nice restaurant and Morgan asked for advice on a dance club as well. Reid had started to protest that he couldn't dance, but looking at how pleased JJ seemed he couldn't bear to spoil her fun.

After dinner Emily and JJ decided they had just enough time to stop at the mall for new clothes. Reid had insisted on replacing the blouse he had ripped the night before, but JJ had only agreed to let him on one condition, he had to get a pair of jeans.

"But I don't wear jeans."

"You need a pair of jeans."

"Why? Give me one good reason why I need jeans."

"We're going dancing."

He felt his jaw working, not understanding her logic, "I don't see a connection."

She'd pulled his head down so she could whisper in his ear, "Your butt will look great in jeans, and I want to see you work your moneymaker."

"Work it?" he laughed, "I'll be lucky if I don't get us all thrown out."

She paused, thinking how to win this argument, "Okay, how about this one? You wear tight jeans, and I will, too." She'd laughed as he all but dragged her to the men's department.

Half an hour later they'd left the store all wearing new clothes, he'd never worn jeans in his life, the material felt stiff and odd, and the black silk button-down shirt she had picked out for him made him feel like he was imitating Morgan, but he did like the way JJ kept looking at his butt, and although he blushed furiously he had been pleased when Emily had chimed in that they fit him good. Morgan had even said he dressed down nice.

That's how Reid found himself entering a nightclub at eleven-thirty that night, wearing jeans. He and JJ entered first, getting proofed was embarrassing enough, but he actually grabbed JJ's arm and tried to turn and run when he saw what was happening on the dance floor. Morgan and Emily were behind him and he wound up getting a good shove from Morgan as he tried to enter behind them. Morgan just laughed when he saw what had startled Reid, two guys were making out about twenty feet from the front door, Jose had sent them to a swingers club. Morgan gave Reid another shove and yelled in his ear, "I just spent forty bucks to get me and Em in here, we're teaching you to dance and that's all there is to it."

Reid pushed back at Morgan, still trying to make a break for the door, "I'll give you the forty bucks back. We can find someplace else."

JJ and Emily settled the matter by heading for the bar. Morgan turned Reid around and pointed, "Get going."

No way was he leaving JJ in a place like this, and the others seemed comfortable enough, so he allowed Morgan to prod him toward the bar area. He heard Emily ordering three J.D. and diet Cokes, and one diet Coke, and yelled to the bartender, "Make that four J.D.s." He felt the eyes of the group on him, and responded to their silent questioning, "The problem was never in the glass guys," he tapped his temple, "The problem was in here, and it's fixed now. I'm fine."

Morgan looked at him, never one to really mince words, "You're sure? We can find another club, or just forget it altogether. Maybe this was a bad idea."

"Morgan, trust me. I never _**needed**_ alcohol; I can handle a couple drinks. I'm not sure I can handle dancing, but I can handle a drink or two."

Morgan nodded, hoping Reid was right, knowing he had to let him make his own choices. Emily handed him his drink and he led the way to the back of the dance floor. There were no tables available, so they staked out a spot where they could see the dance floor and Morgan starting looking for a couple that was dancing well, nothing fancy, just simple moves Reid should be able to copy. "There," he pointed to a couple of guys who had their groove going, "Look at those two."

"Morgan, that's two guys."

"Doesn't matter, they can dance. Just watch the moves."

"But --."

"Look, think of it like profiling. You can tell a lot about a couple watching them dance. Those two, they're just getting to know each other. See? No real contact, a hand on the arm. They're flirting. That's how you're going to learn to dance tonight, nice and simple."

Reid nodded, "Okay."

"Now, see that couple over there, the guy and girl? See the full contact, but they're not looking at each other's faces, they're going home together, one night stand. Not the feel you're going for with JJ."

"Yeah. Okay, I see what you're saying."

"Now, those two girls over there, slow dancing to a fast song, whispering in each other's ears? Those two are a couple, they're in love. You and JJ can dance like that later, but not until you learn to fast dance."

"Why can't we skip right to that?"

"Because JJ's gonna want to party sometimes." Morgan looked at his partner, said the one thing he knew would get Reid out on that dance floor if nothing else could, "You know you want to get off the sidelines. You know you want to hit the dance floor with everyone else, cut loose, and just have some fun. You're always watching, never jumping in and playing with the other kids, and you know you want to."

"I just don't know how."

"I know, Bud. It's not going to be easy, but you won't regret it." They both knew they were talking about life not dancing. "Now, grab JJ and go play."

Reid nodded, more to himself than Morgan, put his glass down and held his hand out to JJ. "Care to help me look like a deranged idiot?"

JJ laughed and led the way to the dance floor. It was so crowded they wound up only about ten feet from where Morgan and Emily were standing. Reid knew they were watching, but did his best not to care. He tried, he really tried, but there was no way his body was going to move like the other couples out on the dance floor. He felt spastic; he just didn't know what to do with his arms and legs. When the song ended he just stood there looking helpless, feeling like he was letting JJ down, letting himself down. He really wanted this to work. He started to turn to leave the dance floor when Morgan spoke from behind him. He saw Emily approach on his right.

"Okay, we're gonna have to do this the hard way."

"What?" A little bit of panic started to rise, 'what the hell was Morgan talking about?'

Morgan moved directly behind Reid, and grabbed his waist. "This is just like hand-to-hand class, I'm gonna tell you what to do, you're gonna do it. If you're body's in the wrong position I'm gonna move it for you." Morgan shifted Reid's hips, so he was facing JJ directly. "Put your feet in a firing stance." This Reid knew, Morgan and Hotch had both spent hours with him at the firing range after he had flunked his requal; proper body position was drilled into him now. He shifted his feet, relaxed his knees, a good stable stance was important to shooting.

"That's right now feel the music," He watched as JJ and Emily smiled at him and Morgan, they were fun smiles, not taunting in any way. He could do this, it was totally weird having Morgan's hands on him like this, but like Morgan said they'd done the same thing teaching him to shoot and fight.

"Now, let your hips move to the music." He tried, Morgan grabbed his hips, "Like this," Morgan forced his hips into a motion that felt like what he was seeing around the room, "That's right, side to side, kinda slow, now make a figure eight."

Reid started to look behind him, "No, look at JJ. Always watch your partner."

Reid nodded and looked at JJ. She was still smiling at him, so apparently she wasn't too freaked out by this. He felt Morgan shifting his hips, "You're doing great, now add a little up and down motion. Not that much, you're not riding a horse, just an inch or two." Reid reduced his bobbing; this was actually starting to feel like dancing. JJ moved closer to him, their fronts almost touching, this was starting to feel pretty nice.

"Now, hold your arms out towards JJ. Bend your elbows, think shooting stance again, you don't want to be stiff. That's good, now make really loose fists, then relax your hands. That's right, you could make a fist real fast, or you can grab the perp, you're ready either way. Now, move your hands around JJ, like you're going to touch her, but don't make contact. No, don't wave at her, slow, in time with the music, just like your hips."

Morgan's arms appeared around Reid's, he watched and copied the movements. "That's it, you've got it. Now, I'm gonna back off and you're gonna keep going." Reid nodded, keeping his eyes on JJ.

Morgan and Emily moved a few feet off and started dancing together. Morgan kept one eye on Reid to see how the lessons were holding up, he'd kept Reid from getting embarrassed by keeping his focus on JJ, but they'd gotten quite a few speculative looks from the other patrons. His manliness was feeling in need of a big boost right now. He grabbed Emily's waist and pulled her into his body, she was almost as good a dancer as he was, she slapped his chest once at the manhandling, then followed his lead perfectly.

"How come you never look at me, Em?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we're friends, we're adults, you looked at Reid this morning like he was candy, you've never looked at me like that."

"Are you jealous of Reid?"

"No! Maybe a little."

"We're coworkers."

"So are they; does it matter?" He got a worried look, "It's not because of --?"

She understood what he was talking about, "No, it's not because you were abused."

"Then what is it?"

Emily looked down, could he really not know, not even suspect. She looked back up, looked into his face, he wasn't upset, just puzzled. He really didn't know.

"Come on, Em, spill."

"You're taken."

"What are you talking about? I'm not taken."

"You've been claimed. And no woman with any morals is going to move in on another woman's territory, a friend's territory."

"Okay, so who's this mystery woman who's laid a claim on me? Don't I have a right to know who's staked me out?"

"She's never hid it, if you think real hard, you can probably answer that question yourself."

Morgan was quiet, he held Emily through the next few dances, they were pressed front-to-front, legs intertwined, but he realized there really was nothing sexual there. She was fun, they probably could have a great time in the sack, but she was a friend, potentially a really good friend, but he didn't feel any disappointment that there wasn't to be anything more.

It wasn't like he needed a conquest, and normally he didn't even consider dating women he worked with. Pissing off a woman who would be coming up behind you with a loaded gun on a raid was just asking for trouble. Maybe he _**was**_ just jealous that she'd given Reid the eye, not him. But who could she be talking about who could have staked a claim on him?

Then he realized, the only women friends Emily seemed to have at the Bureau were JJ and Garcia. His and Garcia's flirting must have confused Emily, he knew it did sometimes when they were on the road, people overhearing thought they were an item, but Garcia flirted with everybody, she even flirted with Hotch, that was just her nature, just like it was his. He opened his mouth to tell Emily this, but she cut him off.

"She's been in love with you for a long time, but she only realized it herself when she thought you were killed in that explosion at the anthrax lab. Don't worry she's not going to turn stalker on you, but you could be kind and not flirt with other women when she's around."

"Am I the only one who didn't know about this?"

"Nobody else knows, but me and JJ. The three of us went out one night and she fessed up. You know you should think about it, the two of you would make a real cute couple."

"Cute?" Morgan shuddered, "Why would I want to be cute?" They continued dancing, but Emily noticed Morgan seemed to be a thousand mile away, actually just about two thousand miles.


	9. Learning the Rules

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers, I do not own any CM characters, I'm just borrowing them and will return them in the same condition as I found them.

Storyline Rules: There will be het smut, there may be violence, mention of drugs and sex crimes -- this is Criminal Minds. There may be mild sideline slash, but it will not involve any CM characters. All CM characters will remain true to character as I see them. All pairings will be introduced as they could naturally occur. This may be fantasy, but I will try my best to make sure anything presented as fact is accurate.

LEARNING THE RULES

JJ leaned into Reid's side as they left the club. She could hardly believe how much fun they'd had. Once Reid had relaxed and allowed Morgan to tutor him in dancing he'd looked -- well, not great, but not like a deranged idiot either. By three he'd actually been dancing pretty good.

She'd been worried when he'd ordered the J.D., but had had no choice but to accept his assurance that the alcohol wasn't the problem. He was right, he was the one who had the problem, he was the one who had to handle it. He'd finished that one drink, then had diet Cokes the rest of the night. She, on the other hand, was pleasantly buzzed, she'd counted her drinks, technically she would be legal to drive.

After the heat of the bar the night air was almost cold and JJ felt her body responding to both the temperature and Reid's closeness, she'd unbuttoned his shirt halfway down his chest earlier in the night, she'd been surprised he'd let her, but then he was dancing and that was a first, too, now she slipped her hand inside and caressed his chest, found his nipple, 'yep, he was happy,' not that she didn't already know that, after all, they'd been dancing _**very**_ close for the last hour or so.

His hand came up to capture hers, "What are you doing?" His whole face lit up when he smiled like that.

She looked over her shoulder, made sure Morgan and Emily were far enough behind not to overhear, and declared her intentions, "I'm driving tonight."

He got that puzzled look on his face, the one she loved, "JJ, we're walk --." Now, he got it, "Oh." He was silent for a few moments, then he leaned down and kissed her, really kissed her. They only came up for air when Emily and Morgan caught up to them. Morgan grabbed Reid's arm to move him along with an instruction to "get a room." Morgan slung his arm around Reid's neck. "We're never gonna get back to the hotel if we have to keep stopping for you two to neck."

Reid tried to duck out of Morgan's grasp, "Come on, Man, let go."

"Huh-uh. Keep walking, I want to get some sleep tonight."

&&&&&&

The sign was hung, properly this time, both doors were locked and the chains were on, and twenty hours of anticipation were ready to be released. JJ grabbed Reid by the front of his shirt and pulled him to her, he came willingly. He twined his fingers in her hair and lowered his lips to hers, not gently, he was too far gone for gentle, he devoured, lips merged, teeth nipped, tongues danced.

JJ worked the snap and zipper of his jeans, freeing him from his confinement, she stroked his erection through his briefs, he growled low in his throat, a noise he hadn't even know he was capable of, and started working on the buttons of her blouse. He tried to focus, he could perform complex magic tricks, he should be able to undo buttons without ripping -- damn. Since the blouse was ruined he pulled and felt the rest of the buttons tear loose. He pushed the shirt off her shoulders and watched it slide to the floor.

JJ pushed his shirt of his shoulders and he shrugged, he shivered as he felt the silk slide down his back. He tackled the snap of her jeans, fumbled for a moment with her zipper before working it down and shoving them over her hips. His hands roved over her backside. His eyes widened, she was wearing a thong? He pulled his lips free, looked over her shoulder, down her nearly bare back, past the band of her bra, Sweet Lord, a red thong.

He looked into her face, raised one eyebrow, "You wear those to work?"

She slipped one hand into his briefs, grabbed his erection and responded, "No, I wore these for you."

Suddenly she pushed his jeans and briefs down over his hips, watched them pool around his ankles, she shoved gently and his knees hit the edge of the bed and he sat. He tried to pull her down with him, but she resisted. Instead she took a step back, kicked off her heals, and pushed her jeans down and stepped out of them. Reid kicked his feet and freed his feet from his pants and shoes.

He looked at her standing proud before him, wearing nothing but a few small scraps of red lace and wondered if he'd ever be able to live without this woman in his life, prayed he'd never have to find out. He held a hand out to her, not sure if he was still capable of speech, not really caring. She took his hand, and stepped up to him. She nudged his knees apart with hers. She stood between his spread legs and kissed him.

He grasped her hips, trying to pull her closer than she already was. She placed her hands on his, and started to kiss her way down Reid's chin to his neck. She placed his hands on the mattress and held hers on top of them, trapping them in place. She kissed her way down his neck. She scraped her teeth across his shoulder, lingering to suck a moment, giving him the hickey he had tried to give her that morning. She heard him gasp her name.

His hands jerked under hers, she pressed her weight more firmly on them, holding them where they were. This was her show, tonight she was in charge. Her lips traveled across his chest to find his nipple. They stood out on his hairless chest, she gently first one then licked her way across to the other, she felt him shudder as he moaned.

He shifted his hips, rubbing his erection against her breasts and she knew he wasn't going to last much longer, she wondered if he was going to be able to last until she reached her final destination. She smiled against his abdomen, knowing that whether he did or not, that wasn't going to deter her, and after last night she knew he would be able to rise to the occasion a second time anyway. Five times in one night, amazing, she was still a little sore, but in a good way.

He sucked in his breath when she tongued his belly button, so she did it again. He was breathing so fast now she thought he might hyperventilate. She released his hands with a whispered warning to keep them on the mattress. She spread her fingers and rubbed her hands up and down the insides of his thighs, teasing, almost but not quite touching. She saw his fingers curls into the edge of the mattress.

"Please, JJ," his voice sounded strangled.

"Please what?"

"I -- I need -- I -- please touch me."

"I am touching you."

"JJ --."

"Say it. What do you want me to touch? What do you want me to do?"

"I --."

"Come on, all you have to do is say it."

"Your mouth, I want -- I need -- JJ, please."

"This?" She touched the tip of her tongue to his straining member.

"Yes. Yes, yes, yes, please. That."

She licked lightly across the top, tasting the bit of come resting there. "Say it, Spence, beg for it. Where do you want my mouth?"

"My pen --."

She grasped the base, squeezed, "No, you know what you need to say."

He drew a ragged breath, another, nearly choking on the words, "My cock. Please, JJ, suck my cock."

She closed her lips over him and began to suck. He was far too big to ever hope to take all the way like this so she stroked her hand up and down his shaft to match the rhythm of her mouth. She grasped his balls with her other hand and felt them contract as he came. She swallowed rapidly, greedily, as his body bucked beneath her ministrations. She continued sucking until she had every last drop, until his body stopped twitching, until he collapsed back on the bed.

Like last night, this first time he stayed hard, she pulled her mouth from him and crawled up his body, sliding her body against his until she straddled his hips. She sat over him and ordered him to put his legs up on the bed; he complied without question, shifting his hips, moving her body with his. She smiled.

He stroked her thighs as she straddled him, grasped her hips intending to shift her where he wanted her. "NO." He stopped. "I'm in charge, put your hands back on the bed." He complied instantly. She stroked his chest lightly, leaned down to briefly claim his lips, making sure to brush her nipples against his. He groaned. She sat up, saw his eyes go directly to her breasts, from the corner of her eye she saw his hands twitching on the mattress. "Do you want to touch them?"

"Yes."

She ran her hands down his arms until she reached his hands, she pulled his hands up her thighs, up her sides, held them to her stomach just below her bra, "What are they?"

"What?"

"Talk dirty to me, Spence," she whispered, "What do you want to do?"

He smiled, he was learning, "I want to touch you, I want to put my hands on your tits." He nearly choked on the last word, but he smiled as he said it. JJ moved his hands so they covered her. Reid gently kneaded her lace-covered flesh, rocking his hips so that his penis -- no, his cock stroked against her. He could feel that she was as wet as he was hard, but knew she was going to play with him like a cat with a mouse first. He rocked harder, if she wanted to play, he'd play.

JJ melted into Reid's hands, for not having done this before, he had great instincts; firm, but not too hard. She rocked her hips, he was rocking back, the friction felt wonderful, but wasn't nearly enough, she wondered how long she could make him wait for what they both really wanted. Not long, because she was going to go insane if he wasn't inside her soon.

JJ gasped as he gently pinched her nipples, it wasn't enough, she needed more. "What else do you want to do with my tits?"

"I want to see them. I want to lick them."

"Anything else?"

He grinned, "I'm gonna bite them."

"Take my bra off." Reid had already located the front clasp and complied in under a second. JJ leaned forward allowing Reid access with his mouth. He quickly brought a nipple to his mouth and began to suckle, his hips bucked as pleasure coursed through him. He felt JJ grind harder against him. He bit gently, careful not to break skin.

He continued to knead one breast while he licked, sucked and bit the other. He ground harder against JJ as he switched breasts. She was moaning his name now, quite possibly the sweetest sound in the world. It wouldn't be long before she asked/told him to do exactly what he wanted to do, unless he broke and begged for it first.

"I want more, JJ."

"What do you want? Tell me what you want."

He ground his hips upward, "I need to be inside you."

"Say it."

"I want to fuck you. Please, JJ, I need to fuck you now." He grasped her panties tried to pull them down, but that was impossible while she was straddling him. She climbed off him long enough to pull her soaked panties off, then climbed back on the bed.

She clasped Reid's hands and guided them above his head. She straddled his hips once more and rubbed against his length. He tried to pull his hands free to move her into position, but she used her weight to hold him still. Slowly she slid up his cock until she reached the head, then raised herself until he was positioned at her opening before sliding backwards, taking him in, slowly, inch by inch, torturing them both.

He moaned and bucked his hips but JJ tightened her knees denying him. She leaned down to kiss him. And slid further down his length. When she had finally taken all of him she released his hands, which went immediately to her hips as he began to thrust up into her, driving them both closer and closer to the edge. He reached between their bodies and found her sweet spot. He barely managed to hold on long enough to take her over the edge before he leapt into the abyss after her calling her name as he fell.


	10. Playing & Paying

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers, I do not own any CM characters, I'm just borrowing them and will return them in the same condition as I found them.

Storyline Rules: There will be het smut, there may be violence, mention of drugs and sex crimes -- this is Criminal Minds. There may be mild sideline slash, but it will not involve any CM characters. All CM characters will remain true to character as I see them. All pairings will be introduced as they could naturally occur. This may be fantasy, but I will try my best to make sure anything presented as fact is accurate.

PLAYING & PAYING

Reid woke slowly; it was a luxury he was rarely allowed. No alarm clock, no "we're landing" announcement, no unsubs to catch, no puzzles to solve, just warmth; an unfamiliar, but very pleasant weight on his chest; and the faint scent of JJ's perfume, roses, her shampoo, berries, and the lingering aroma of sex.

He tilted his head backwards until he could see the clock, nine-thirty. Check-out wasn't until eleven, he could get another hour's sleep and still be ready, but JJ would have to do her hair, her make-up, check two rooms to make sure she didn't leave anything behind. He gently stroked her back, her head stirred on his chest, her lips moving softly against him. "JJ, I'm gonna take my shower." He kissed her hair and slid out from under her.

He gave more thought than usual to what to wear, usually it was whatever was next in the drawer or ready bag, when you were trying to catch a rapist did it really matter if your tie matched your shirt and your shirt matched your sweater? Today he wanted to look good for JJ. He checked his ready bag, finding exactly what he'd expected; he'd worn everything in it. He pulled a button-down shirt from the neatly-folded dirty pile and shook it out, five years on the road had taught him that barring spills or getting tackled, you could wear just about everything twice, except underwear that was just plain wrong. He always carried plenty of clean underwear. He grabbed the jeans from the floor and headed into the bathroom.

As he stepped into the shower he marveled at the events of this weekend. He chuckled, and to think he had been uneasy when Morgan had invited himself along. He needed to find some way to thank him.

&&&&&&

Reid sat at the Blackjack table, his pile of chips steadily growing. He checked his watch, JJ should be down soon. He'd gotten her up before he'd left the room arranging for her to meet him down here when she was ready. He tapped the table next to his cards, silently asking for another, nineteen, stay. The dealer added more chips and dealt again.

Blackjack was simple, track the numbers, do the statistics, what was the probability that the next card was going to be what he needed. He preferred poker, it was much more challenging, profile your opponents, watch for the tells, the twitch of an eye, the tightening of fingers around the cards, make sure you don't give anything away yourself.

It was funny, he was the best on the team at seeing the physical tells because of his experience playing poker, and his experience and training with the team had made him a much better poker player.

He smiled as he raked in more chips, stacking them neatly on the table in front of him. Much as he like order, it wasn't OCD, it was simple security, having chips spread out around the table made a lot of new players feel like they were 'raking 'em in', but it made it easy for the player next to you to snitch a few chips out of your pile while you were distracted. Similar to pickpockets, some people did it all the time, others saw an opportunity and found themselves unable to resist. It was also poor etiquette.

He caught the faint scent of roses and berries and smiled, "Hi, JJ."

"How'd you know I was there?"

Let's see, should he tell her he'd memorized her scent years ago? Can you say stalker? "A magician never reveals his secrets. Have you seen Morgan or Emily?"

"Emily's on her way down, I haven't seen Morgan yet."

Reid patted the seat beside him and said, "Play with me awhile."

"Reid, I'm tapped out. I'm gonna have to put my half of the room on plastic."

"JJ, I've got the rooms."

"Reid, I'm not some -- you can't -- I'm paying for my own --."

"Calm down, JJ. This isn't some kind of pay for play thing. This had nothing to do with you having sex with me, I've got _**all**_ the rooms covered, Morgan and Emily's too. Well, I will in another half hour or so."

As Reid spoke he continued communicating with the dealer through hand signals. This was a shoe game, the player didn't actually touch the cards, all cards were played face up and hand signals were required so everything would be recorded by the video surveillance, cheating was virtually impossible and no arguments could be made that the dealer had stayed when the player said hit or vice versa. It was the only way to go for a card-counter.

"Reid, you can't afford --."

"JJ --."

"I --."

"Just listen; okay?"

"All right, I'm listening."

"If you invited Morgan, Emily and I to Pennsylvania to see your mom where would we all stay?"

"With my mom."

"See, you didn't even have to think about that. If we all went home with Morgan, we'd stay with his mom. The same with Emily - kind of - I'm not sure I'd want to stay in an embassy, too many bugs."

JJ laughed at his joke.

"Now, if we were staying at your mom's would she charge us for food and the rooms?"

"Of course not, but --."

"I'm betting you'd take us to a high school game, maybe the movies; right? Under a hundred bucks."

"Exactly, this isn't --."

"JJ, you came with me, while I came home to visit my family. We can't stay at my mom's because I sold the house when I moved to D.C."

"But you can't afford --."

"We both know how much I make in D.C., you saw how much I make when I'm in Vegas. Let me do this. Please? We already discussed that; here I get to be high roller for a weekend, but I promise you, once we're back home, it's right back to McDonald's, subways and the public library."

"All right, you pay for the rooms, but I'm paying for the tickets last night."

Reid actually burst out laughing at this, He already had chips for the tickets tucked to the side, "JJ, you can't afford the tickets." She just looked at him in confusion for a moment. "JJ, cheap Copperfield tickets run a couple hundred bucks." He paused, not sure whether to continue, "Each."

"We had good seats?"

"We had excellent seats, in a great venue, for a Saturday evening show."

Suddenly Morgan spoke from behind him, "Man, how much were those tickets?"

Reid jumped; unfortunately he didn't have an early-warning system for Morgan. "Hey, how long you been there?"

"Long enough. How much were the tickets?"

Reid held his hand up to the dealer, signaling he wanted to sit out a hand. Since he was the only player at the table the dealer just waited. "Morgan, like I said, you're my guests here. I'll take care of it."

"How much?"

Reid turned back to the table, picked up a stack of chips. He took five hundred-dollar chips and stacked them on the table, "You," five more, "Emily," two more stacks, "JJ, me." He picked up his next stack of chips, laid out two, "Dinner Friday," two more, "Last night." He placed the last three chips stacked in front of him down, "Room one, night one."

He glared at Morgan, not that he'd ever been any good at glaring, he pointed at two hundred-dollar chips in the betting box, "Twenty minutes, and I'll have the rest of the room fees taken care of, give me another fifteen after that and I'll take care of the plane tickets home."

Morgan looked at the array of chips in front of partner, when he'd invited himself along he had fully intended to pay his fair share, but hadn't given any thought to how much it would actually cost. He could do it, but it would hurt, on the other hand, could he really let Reid take on an expense like that?

Reid watched the thoughts play across Morgan's face, one more nudge should do it, "Look, you can buy me lunch next week - not McDonald's."

He watched the tension leave Morgan's face; sometimes you had to give in gracefully. Reid winked at JJ, "But I'm not putting out."

Morgan shoved Reid's shoulder, "Yuck. Turn around and make some money."

"Hey, speed this up for me." Reid handed Morgan a chip, "Sit down and put that in the betting box. You, too, JJ. No arguments." Morgan sat, put the chip in the box. JJ just held hers.

"Come on, JJ. They're little pieces of plastic, they mean nothing. Just trust me and put the chip in the box." JJ leaned forward and placed the chip. Reid nodded to the dealer to continue play.

Emily found them twenty minutes later to find the three of them sitting with several piles of small plastic disks rapidly growing in front of them, while Reid played three hands simultaneously. She stood quietly behind them and marveled at seeing a genius at work.

She was surprised when she heard Reid announce, "Last hand." She watched the deal, watched as Reid instructed JJ to hit three times for a five-card Charlie, a stay on nineteen for himself and hold on fifteen for Morgan. The dealer had fourteen, under seventeen he had to take another card, anything seven or under would beat Morgan, and over five would beat Reid, he drew a nine.

The dealer paid out, and Reid walked JJ and Morgan through trading their chips in, then cashed out. Morgan snorted as Reid arranged to have the money wired to his bank account, a number he gave the clerk from memory.

"Reid, where did you learn to play like that?"

"Later, Morgan, when we're not on Candid Camera."


	11. A Past Revealed

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers, I do not own any CM characters, I'm just borrowing them and will return them in the same condition as I found them.

Storyline Rules: There will be het smut, there may be violence, mention of drugs and sex crimes -- this is Criminal Minds. There may be mild sideline slash, but it will not involve any CM characters. All CM characters will remain true to character as I see them. All pairings will be introduced as they could naturally occur. This may be fantasy, but I will try my best to make sure anything presented as fact is accurate.

Author's note: Hotch is a hard man to shop for.

A PAST REVEALED

Reid and Morgan followed JJ and Emily as they browsed shops along the Strip, one of the major tourists areas of Las Vegas. Morgan was now carrying a bag with three cheesy t-shirts that said, "My team went to Vegas and all I got was this crappy t-shirt," two in navy and one in fluorescent orange. JJ Insisted that Garcia would love and wear hers, and that Hotch and Gideon would get a laugh out of theirs. They were currently looking for more personal, less 'traditional' gifts.

"So, Reid, no security cameras now, you gonna tell us where you learned to gamble like that?"

"It's really not that interesting, Morgan."

"Ooh, avoidance, that means it is interesting. Come on, you know I won't leave you alone till you fess up to whatever it is."

"Fine, it's not a big deal. In college I tutored this kid, Ronny, in history, he taught me to play Blackjack and poker. It was easy; it's all statistics, probabilities. I learned what combinations are possible, how likely they are to occur. Blackjack is simple, remember what cards have come up, know what's left. Bet low when there's a lot of cards, bet high when they're getting low."

"Yeah, that's no confession. Give it up, Man."

"Morgan, that's enough to get me blacklisted from every casino in the U.S. They share info. Card counting isn't illegal, but casinos will still find an excuse. Most of the casinos in the U.S. are owned by a handful of people, you get your name and picture up in one, you can be sure it'll be up in all of them inside a week."

"Okay, Spence, that tells us why you didn't want to say anything inside the casino and where you first learned to play poker." JJ slid her arm around his waist, "Tell us the rest."

"What rest?" He was having a hard time keeping his lips from twitching. He'd already decided to tell all.

"Friday night I watched you go through opponents like Morgan goes through girlfriends."

"Hey."

"Shut up, Morgan. Spence, you've never played like that with us."

"Of course not, I like you guys. If I played like that, you wouldn't play with me anymore."

"The point is, you weren't playing casual 'let's have fun' poker, you raked in a year's pay in a couple hours."  
"JJ, twenty bucks between friends on the plane is totally different than the high-stakes table. You don't sit those tables unless you know the risks. I can guarantee, none of those players were betting their grocery money. And every one of them would have taken every penny I had with me if they could. They were good, but at that level, it's a mind game as much as a card game - advantage BAU profiler."

"It's more than that. It was like you were reading their minds, like you knew what cards they were holding, you didn't learn that from Gideon."

"No, Gideon's sucks at poker. He watches the players too much, you have to know the cards, too."

"So, Bud, you still haven't given us what we're looking for: Where … did … you … learn … to … play … like … that?"

Emily looked on quietly while JJ and Morgan prodded at Reid. He was going to spill; they just needed the right question. What was it?

"You're hiding something," Morgan squinted at Reid trying to figure him out, "And I'm just gonna start guessing till I figure it out."

Suddenly Emily got it, Reid had left Vegas for D.C. when he was nineteen, the gambling age was twenty-one, he'd been underage. "So, how old were you when you started playing for money?"

Reid stopped walking. Morgan jumped on the information, "Oh, that's it? You weren't legal. Come on, how old, eighteen, seventeen?"

"Fourteen."

"My, my, my, Young Reid had a little wild streak after all."

Reid started walking again, made a face, "I never said I didn't. I've done a few dumb things in my life."

"Dumb, huh? What I wanna know is how you managed to get in a casino when you were underage, you got proofed last night."

Reid grinned, the cat was out of the bag, time to enjoy it, he stepped ahead of Morgan, turned around to walk backwards, he wanted to see Morgan's face for this, "Who says I played in a casino? Never set foot in one till I was twenty-one and in the Bureau." Morgan, JJ and Emily all stopped walking, Reid continued walking backward, "I learned the rules in a dorm, I learned to _**play**_ in back-alley games."

"You're shittin' me."

"Nope." Reid kept walking, slowly so the others could catch up. "Ronny took me to my first illegal game as a lark, just to see if I could win against strangers. A small game, no big deal, we walked out with a hundred dollars, he kept fifty. Next Friday night he took me to a bigger game, we split five hundred."

Reid laughed, "Within six months I was taking home a couple grand a week and the entire football team was taking turns being my bodyguard and keeping an eye on Mom. Mom thought I was very popular, although she didn't really approve of me hanging out with jocks. I was just happy the jocks were suddenly protecting me instead of beating me up. Four years and I only got jumped twice."

"So, you went from being picked on to being --?" Emily asked.

"Mascot, I guess. We needed a cover, so I tutored the entire team. I think it's the only time in school history the whole team carried at least a 3.0 average."

"So, why'd you quit, Man?"

"Well, at first it never even occurred to me that it wasn't legal. I mean what fourteen-year-old really thinks about that kind of thing. Then I was making enough money that I didn't care and my new 'friends' made life much more pleasant. But when I was sixteen I decided I wanted to get into the F.B.I. I knew that if I wound up with a record, I'd never get in, but I also knew I'd need enough money to set Mom up in a home, a nice home, so I started playing more aggressively and saved every penny I won.

"I was taking criminal justice and psychology courses, I knew if I got caught as a minor I could talk just about any judge into letting me off with an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, and since the only thing I did was the gambling, not getting arrested again for six months wouldn't be a problem. No conviction, no record, no problem. If I got caught as an adult, I might have been able to get out of it, but it wouldn't be a sure thing anymore, so the week before my eighteenth birthday I quit. Haven't played an illegal game since."

He laughed, "Well, not unless you count the plane. And somehow I don't think I'm likely to get turned in for that."

"So," Prentiss asked, "how'd you explain the money during your background check?"

"I put it in a trust for Mom, for the home, in case anything happened to me."

"Are you telling me the F.B.I. didn't try to find out where you got the money for that?"

"No, Emily, I'm telling you I thought ahead. I set up a savings account in Mom's name. I never told her about it, and I put most of my winnings in it. This is Vegas, as long as the amount's under two thousand a day, it doesn't draw any attention. I used the night deposit, so no one asked questions about a kid making such big deposits. This is Vegas, everyone assumed Mom was lucky at slots, I encouraged the impression."

"When Mom was committed, I got power of attorney and regained control of the money. I kept enough to live on for a couple years and put the rest in the trust. Between that and my life insurance, if something happens to me, she's taken care of."

"Christ, Reid, how expensive is that place?"

"After her health insurance from the university and my health insurance, about fifty grand."

"A year? No wonder you don't have a car."

"Morgan, I don't have a car because I hate driving. The only reason I even got my license is because it was required to get into the bureau."

"I still don't get how anyone can not like driving."

"I have enough trouble not running into things when I'm walking. I just don't think adding speed and a couple thousand pounds of metal into the mix is a good idea."

Reid breathed a sigh of relief at the subject change as Morgan got caught up in telling Emily all about the one and only time Morgan had let Reid drive, he'd got caught up thinking about the case they were working, hit a tree and they'd had to walk two miles to the nearest house because there was no cell service. He'd wanted to tell the others, but really didn't want it to be a big deal. There was no way his teenage gambling was going to stay buried, but at least it was off the table for now.

"Hey, Reid," or was it? "Do Hotch and Gideon know?"

"That I'm a lousy driver? Yeah."

"That you used to be a bad boy."

"Gideon does. I don't know if he ever told Hotch, and I'm not asking." Reid looked around, saw where they were, "Ooh, there should be a shop on the next block I need to stop at."

"Should be, Spence?"

"The Las Vegas real estate market is the fastest in the world. Here today, gone tomorrow, something else next week. But this guy's been here more than thirty years. He swears he's not selling till someone wins the game."

"What game?"

"You'll see. Just play along."

"How can we play, if we don't know what the game is?"

"Don't worry. All you have to do is not draw attention to what I do."

Reid paused outside a small storefront; the window displayed a mannequin in full magician garb sawing another mannequin in half. "You've heard about my teen years, get ready for my childhood." Reid opened the door and stepped inside.

The shop was dimly lit in some areas, bright in others, and at the back of the store was a small raised stage with a handful of folding chairs set up in front of it. For such a small shop it was relatively crowded. Reid looked like a kid in a candy store - or more appropriately a magic shop. As he walked through the door he grabbed a rope hanging from an old brass bell and clanged four times.

Morgan looked at the bell; next to it was a sign saying, "Ring bell to play game. Losers will be forced to perform." Next to that was another sign with a picture of a guillotine, which stated, "Shoplifters will be decapitated."

Morgan started as he felt Reid bump into his side. Reid was looking at a display of playing cards. They wandered around the store for a while, Reid coming up to each of them in turn, pointing out favorite items, explaining how some items worked, refusing to explain others.

After half an hour Morgan began to become frustrated by the fact that with all the dancing around Reid was doing he hadn't picked up a single item to purchase. He'd figured the kid would need an extra suitcase to take home all the stuff he'd get here and all he'd done was wader around looking at stuff, picking it up, putting it down, bumping into him and JJ and Prentiss. And what the hell happened to this game they were supposed to be playing?

He walked over to where Reid and JJ were standing. Reid was showing her something, it was an eight-inch-tall rabbit coming out of a top hat, Reid pushed something and a bunch of flowers appeared in the rabbit's paws. "Garcia's going to love this," JJ exclaimed. "Hey, Morgan, look at this. Garcia can put pens in the hat."

Reid looked at his watch and sighed. Kid really didn't want to leave. Reid put his arm around JJ and walked up to the register with the rabbit. Morgan followed behind. They'd barely reached the register when the old man there said, "One hundred seventeen dollars and forty-seven cents."

Morgan felt his jaw drop, "For a ceramic rabbit?"

The old man smiled, looked at a pad of paper in his hand. "One ceramic rabbit; one deck of Svengali cards; one dozen color-changing silk scarves; one pair of quick-release handcuffs, with key; two disappearing-ink pens; a two-headed quarter, a two-tailed quarter and a winking dollar bill, not legal tender; one pair of seven/eleven dice; one color-changing rope; two dozen smoke pellets," the old man reached under the counter, "and one twenty-inch stuffed white tiger cub for Jack."

JJ took the stuffed tiger from the man exclaiming, "He's perfect. How did you know?"

"Benjamin the Beneficent, knows all and tells nothing, Young JJ." He glanced at Reid's arm, still over JJ's shoulder, "Looks like my Spencer finally got up the nerve to ask you out."

Reid laughed, "Benny, you're scaring Morgan."

"He is not. But I'm beginning to figure out where your weird sense of humor comes from. You don't have any of that stuff."

"Derek Morgan," the man held his hand out, "I'm glad to finally get to meet you. And I assume the beautiful young lady in the back is Emily Prentiss."

"Hey, Emily, come meet my friend."

Emily walked up to the front of the store, she was carrying a crystal ball set in a glass base, "Think Gideon would like this?" The word Vegas was laser-etched inside it.

Benny took it from her and placed it on the counter next to Jack's tiger, "It'll make a wonderful paperweight. Have you picked up anything for Hotch yet, Spencer?"

"Not yet. Any suggestions?"

"Reid, Hotch isn't going to want something from a magic shop."

"Ah, young Morgan, I have something for everybody here." He turned around and looked at the shelved behind him. "Actually, I just have to keep the magicians' companions happy." He pulled down a long leather rectangle box and a small velvet jeweler's box. He opened the leather box to reveal a fourteen-carat gold pen set, with Vegas etched on the sides. Benny opened the second box; it held a pair of ruby stud earrings.

"Hotch doesn't' wear earrings."

"Morgan, they're for Haley, and they're perfect." JJ picked up the box and showed them to Emily who nodded her head as well. Reid and Morgan just looked at each other and shrugged, silently agreeing to let the women's choice stand.

Reid pulled a wallet out of his back pocket and handed it to Benny, who took it with a smile and turned to run it through the machine. "You should go set up, while I collect your purchases."

Reid pulled two pens out of his shirt pocket and a pair of handcuffs out of his pants pocket. He handed the wallet to JJ, saying, "Hang on to this for a minute," and walked to the stage at the back of the store.

Benny turned to JJ and asked her for the silk scarves and rope from her purse. She looked at him in confusion and he told her "Just look." She opened her purse to find the items there. Emily opened her purse as well and found the smoke pellets and trick money. Morgan laughed at the looks on their faces until Benny asked him for the dice in his front pocket and the cards in his back. When he pulled the cards out of his pocket he looked at the wallet JJ was holding and realized it was his.

All he could do was laugh as he signed the receipt and took his credit card back from Benny. After all he did say he'd get the souvenirs.

Benny put the items in a bag and handed it to Morgan, saying, "I see, taught the boy well. Why don't you grab a seat before they all fill up." He pointed to the stage in the back, where Spencer was moving things around, "Rules of the game, losers must perform."

They moved to the back of the room, and took seats. Morgan held back a grimace; didn't he get enough of this at the office? Well, anything for his bud. JJ, on the other hand, was a bit excited, she'd always enjoyed Spencer's slight of hand tricks and wondered what he could do with a more impressive setup. Emily was curious to find out just how good a magician Reid really was.

Morgan noticed that Reid was starting to attract attention, a few people had already sat down, this must be a regular event here. Benny stepped up on the stage in front of Reid, who nodded at him.

"Excuse me, Ladies and Gentlemen. Today I have a special treat for you. The game was played and the game was lost, you all know what that means. You're in for a show. I introduce to you, Spencer the Superb."

Morgan was amazed when every customer in the shop, about twenty in all, moved to find seats. He was even more amazed that once he got over the fact that it was Reid up there, he actually enjoyed the show. He'd never realized how good Reid was. He did notice JJ pull out her cell phone and snap a few pictures.


	12. Going Home

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers, I do not own any CM characters, I'm just borrowing them and will return them in the same condition as I found them.

Storyline Rules: There will be het smut, there may be violence, mention of drugs and sex crimes -- this is Criminal Minds. There may be mild sideline slash, but it will not involve any CM characters. All CM characters will remain true to character as I see them. All pairings will be introduced as they could naturally occur. This may be fantasy, but I will try my best to make sure anything presented as fact is accurate.

GOING HOME

Reid placed his ready bag on the luggage check counter, "Morgan, I am not telling you."

"Come on, how'd you make JJ disappear? Just tell me how the one trick works that all."

"No."

"You let JJ know."

"I had to let JJ know, she was helping." He took out his badge and displayed it to the clerk; let her know he was carrying his weapon.

"You know, I hate airport security."

"Yeah, well, I'm not asking the F.B.I. to send the jet to pick us up from vacation. I can't afford the gas."

Morgan handed his I.D. and bag across the counter, "I still don't have to like it."

"Morgan," JJ threw in, "just be glad we don't have to do this every time."

"Amen, to that. Speaking of gas, I haven't given you any money yet --."

This time Morgan spoke up, not wanting to hear another argument from Reid, "Reid insists that he invited us home, he's paying. Do not argue with him."

"Oookay."

"You just never argue with a genius, they always win."

Reid laughed, "And don't you forget it."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, Emily, it's covered. You can buy me coffee some day next week,"

"Well, that's hardly a fair trade, but coffee it is."

They continued talking as they made their way through the airport, with Morgan alternately bitching about the inconvenience of commercial flights and how ridiculous it was that they were allowed to carry their handguns, but they still had to take their shoes off to get on a plane, and trying to convince Reid to explain how his magic tricks were done.

&&&&&&

Reid and JJ had settled into their seats, with Morgan and Prentiss several rows back. Reid had originally tried to get all four seats together, but was quite satisfied now that he'd only been able to get two sets of two. He was even more pleased to find the third seat in their row was empty, it wasn't exactly privacy, but he'd make do with what he could get, he was pretty good at improvising.

He raised the armrest and convinced (not that it was hard) JJ to scootch over and snuggle with him. He asked a flight attendant for a blanket, claiming to be cold and spread it over both JJ and himself. He leaned against the wall of the plane and pulled her so her back was against his chest.

"Reid, what are you doing?" Reid smiled at the hint of laughter in her voice.

"What does it feel like I'm doing?"

"Well, stop it, we're in public."

Reid finally managed to work the front clasp of JJ's bra with one hand and slipped inside. "No one can see."

She started to pull his hand away when his fingers found her nipple, she groaned instead. "Well, maybe a little."

JJ fought hard not to make any noise while Reid managed to unbutton her shirt completely and worked her breasts like the magician he was. She was barely able not groan when he undid the snap on her jeans. She managed to do no more than sigh when his hand slipped between her thighs. And she bit her lips to contain her scream when he brought her to orgasm with a few quick strokes of his fingers. She panted as he rearranged her clothing, petting, stroking, calming as he did.

She smiled as she turned to face him, placing her legs over top of his. He was about to find out turnabout is fair play. She reached down and grasped the snap of his jeans, his hand quickly covered hers, "We can't." She tugged and the snap released. "JJ, it's not the same."

She pressed her lips to his, kissed him and whispered, "Trust me." His hand fell away from hers, silent consent to whatever she wanted to do with him. She pulled his zipper down and reached inside, stroking him through his briefs. She slid back and whispered to him, "Lift." He did as ordered and she slid his jeans down just far enough so she free him. She looked over her shoulder quickly to assure herself that the guy across the aisle was still engrossed with the in-flight movie and wrapped her hand around him.

She started sliding her had up and down stroking tenderly while staring into his eyes. If they lived forever she would never tire of looking into those eyes. She stroked and fondled and caressed as he bit his lips to keep silent, until finally he could take no more and whispered, "Now, JJ." Quickly she ducked her head under the blanket and took him in her mouth capturing every last drop as he tangled his fingers in her hair.

&&&&&&

Reid walked into the office at least an hour earlier than usual, but that was because JJ had shoved him out of bed at four o'clock. They had decided that showing up for work together wouldn't be a good idea, at least not until they had told Hotch and Gideon they were seeing each other. So, he'd gone home, showered, repacked his ready bag and nearly fallen asleep on the subway on the way in. Four hours sleep just hadn't been enough. He tucked his ready bag under his desk and headed straight to the coffeepot.

A few minutes later he sat down at his desk, fourteen profile requests. He opened the first file, a museum robbery, after a few minutes with the file he filled out a detailed report stating that it definitely appeared to be an inside job and suggested running deep background checks on the manager, his assistant and their immediate families. Reid knew it was going to be the assistant manager from reading the transcripts of the interviews, but judges and juries liked to see due diligence. He explained his reasoning to the lead investigator and instructed him on what to look for, and what questions to ask.

He was on his fourth file when Morgan sat down beside him. "Mornin', Morgan."

"You look beat. Didn't JJ let you get any sleep last night?"

Reid smiled, "Is that all you think of?"

"No, but I bet it's all you're thinking of today."

He laughed, "Maybe a little. How'd you know?"

"You were humming."

"I don't hum."

Morgan leaned close to Reid's ear, "Loverboy, you were humming _Kiss an Angel Good Morning_. Yeah, you got it bad."

"Yeah, well just keep your mouth shut for a while." He couldn't keep from smiling, even while Morgan was teasing him, "JJ and I want to tell Hotch and Gideon ourselves, so we can assure them it's not going to cause any problems."

"Sure. I get that. Probably a good idea."

Just then Hotch came through calling BAU team, "round table room, five minutes."

Reid looked at his watch in surprise, "I didn't realize it was this late. Guess we'll have to tell them after morning briefing."

"Come on, let's get some coffee on the way in."

Reid stood up and walked with Morgan to the break area. Hotch and Gideon were right behind them as they entered the briefing room. Reid caught himself humming again as they walked through the door, _**When you Kiss Me**_, by Shania Twain. Garcia sat in her usual chair; laptop at the ready and JJ had her back to the door placing briefing folders on the table. Reid had the crazy urge to sneak up and grab her from behind. He felt the goofy grin hit his face at the exact same time as he heard Garcia squawk.

"Oh, my God, Reid, you got laid."

He stopped dead in his tracks. "How -- what -- how'd you --?" How the hell could she tell that? He looked down at himself, he looked the same. Okay, so he wasn't wearing a tie and his top button was undone, but that wasn't enough, was it?

"Who was it?" All motion in the room and the hallway behind him stopped. "You didn't go see some hooker; did you?"

There was no escape; Hotch and Gideon were right behind him. Reid wondered if there was any way he could sink through the floor. Morgan gave him a shove that pushed him the rest of the way into the room.

Hotch and Gideon stepped into the room, taking in the scene before them. Reid's blush, but more importantly, what Garcia hadn't noticed yet, JJ was just as red as he was. Hotch and Gideon both smiled, but Hotch was the first to break the silence, "Well, I guess we don't need to ask if you two had a nice vacation."

Garcia swung around to face JJ, "Jayje, Jayje, you and Reid? And you didn't tell me?! Oh, my God, I don't believe this! You two finally got it on."

Gideon closed the conference room door behind them. He looked out the glass window, yep, that had drawn a little attention. "Garcia," he said quietly. She looked at him instantly, "I think Spencer and JJ might appreciate a little discretion here."

Garcia looked out the window and saw the stares coming their way. "Oh, my God, I am so sorry, you two. I didn't mean -- oh my God, oh my God, oh my God." JJ walked over and clamped her hand over Garcia's mouth; after a few more muffled 'Oh my Gods,' she quieted.

Reid cleared his throat and turned to face Hotch and Gideon, "JJ and I were going to speak to you after the briefing. We've decided to start dating. We're not technically in the same chain of command, but we understand that we won't be able to --."

"Reid."

"Yes, sir?"

"You're adults. If you say you can handle working together, then you can handle working together."

He nodded vigorously at Hotch. "We can."

"Good. You won't be together on entry teams for a while, but other than that, I don't see a reason for anything to change." He looked over at JJ who nodded her agreement.

Morgan decided it was time to get his buddy off the hook; he went over to the chair in the corner and grabbed the box that Benny had packed with souvenirs. "This doesn't even begin to compete, but we brought Reid ad JJ aren't the only ones who brought home a souvenir."

He put the box on the table and sat down next to Garcia, "Hey, Penelope, you got lunch plans today?'

The End

A.N.: Thanks for reading; I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it. This was my first fanfic, but certainly not my last and I hope you'll join me for the next one.


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